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Cosmic Mini Data Stories: New Ways to Experience and Interact with Stunning NASA Imagery

Cosmic Mini Data Stories: New Ways to Experience and Interact with Stunning NASA Imagery


On January 11th, 2023, the NASA Science Activation Cosmic Data Stories team, led by Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, released its first Mini Data Story, an online experience (powered by WorldWide Telescope’s open-source visualization software) that allows the public to engage interactively with NASA imagery. This new experience, the Carina Mini Story, allows users to explore where well-known Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope images of the Carina Nebula are situated within a larger cloud of stars, dust, and gas. Users can also cross-fade between the two images to compare what visible vs. infrared wavelength observations can teach us about star formation.

Experience this new Carina Mini Data Story for yourself! You can click the "Watch Video" icon at the top-left corner to watch a one-minute video showcasing some of the scientific highlights of the Story and click the "Learn More" storybook icon on the top-right portion of the screen to learn about a few specific targets for exploration within the interactive.

The Carina Mini Data Story, an excellent proof-of-concept for more Mini Data Stories to come, was first shared at the 243rd American Astronomical Society Conference in January, 2023, by the Cosmic Data Stories Principal Investigator, Alyssa Goodman, on the NASA Hyperwall. David Weigel, U.S. Space & Rocket Center Planetarium Director & WorldWide Telescope Astrovizicist, had this to say: "Mini Data Stories are a quick and easy way to spark curiosity. The contextual interactive viewer enables exploration of NASA data in a novel interface that gives the user agency over their own learning.”

The Cosmic Data Stories team invites subject matter experts to collaborate with them on future Mini Stories that showcase their favorite NASA imagery and scientific results. Explore the Cosmic Data Stories website to learn more and get involved.

The Cosmic Data Stories project is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0002 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learners

Prof. Alyssa Goodman stands next to the NASA Hyperwall, a roughly 7' x 12' video display that was featured at the NASA Science Exhibit during the January 2023 American Astronomical Society conference in Seattle, WA. She is showing the newly released Carina Mini Data Story and other astronomical visualizations.
Cosmic Data Stories Principal Investigator, Alyssa Goodman, presents the Carina Mini Data Story on the NASA Hyperwall at the January 2023 American Astronomical Society conference in Seattle, WA.

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Last Updated
Jan 26, 2023
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NASA Science Editorial Team

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